Spontaneous Love

Spontaneous Love (orig. published 2.20.09)

You know your child loves you when you receive that first spontaneous sign of love. That first random hug, or that first kiss without asking.

Last night, at bedtime, Colson was in my arms and he put his face in my face and stared at me and then started giving me Eskimo kisses and then stared at me some more. Then he politely demanded about 40 “real” kisses from me before I could lay him down, but that’s ok. I had just received my first “unasked” for kisses from my baby.

Colson is growing up so fast. Tomorrow he will be 21 months old. He is still 21 pounds. And he is still wearing 9 month clothes. But, mentally, he’s practically a 3 year old (according to his therapists). He knows the letters A, B, D, E, I, M, N, O, P, T, and Y when you show him them on his blocks. He knows how to record his favorite shows, and how to delete them when he’s done. He knows how to turn the satellite on and off for the TV, and he knows how to do the “Hot Dog Dance” on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

He loves to help cook supper before insisting on playing with his toys before he eats. He has rediscovered his love of trains and can’t get enough of his “Choo Choo” and his “Play-plane” (his geo-trax train/airplane/airport set). If the train falls off the track he makes sure that either I or his Daddy are more than aware of the problem at hand. “MAMA! UH-OH! Oh no! Mama! Oh no! Choo-choo! Oh-no!!!” is how he lets us know. You can practically see the relief wash over his face when you fix it, as if he was on the verge of the end of the world.

He enjoys coloring almost to the point of addiction. I had to finally hide his markers so he would play with something else. Not that I don’t love his pictures, or want him to keep doing it. But maybe only every other day instead of every other minute. “PEN” he would say. “You want to color?” I would ask. “Pen” he would say and nod his head yes and take a deep breath and ready himself for this new masterpiece yet to be created, deep concentration written all over his face. His favorite color is baby blue (“Baby”). He also adores stickers and would be covered head to toe in them 24/7 if I let him.

Recently, he hasn’t wanted anything to do with eating unless he can either do it himself, or do it with help. To do it himself we have to push the food to the end of his plate so he can lean over and chomp on it. To do it with help, he has to hold the spoon, and either Daddy or I has to “make him” scoop up the food and bend his hand to his mouth. We once had an entire meal this way. 

We took Colson sledding on February 8th, when the temps were warmer, and while the snow was melting away, Colson didn’t care. I have never in my life seen a child have more fun than he did on that day. His smile was the biggest I’ve ever seen, and his laughter was contagious. Daddy ran around the park with Colson in tow while Mommy took pictures and if he could’ve done that all day, he would have. I’m hoping we get some more snow so I can take him just one time at least before next year.

Colson got a stander recently. It looks like a medieval torture device, but its great therapy! And he tolerates it really well. The point is to strengthen his hip and leg muscles so maybe someday he can walk. He has his full KAFO’s on 20 hours a day, and they are maintaining the shape of his feet wonderfully this time. We go to pick up his AFO’s on March 6th, and he will wear those during the day so we can do knee therapy during play, and then the KAFO’s will be worn at night or when he’s in the stander for more support. We have a follow up with Dr. Lyon on March 6th as well, so hopefully he will be happy with how Colson’s feet and knees are doing as well.

Colson recently made a new friend. His name is Boston and he is 8 months old and he lives in Green Bay. Boston and his Mommy and his Gramma came down to visit us on January 31st. Boston has AMC mostly in his arms it appears, however his feet are a little tight too. He is just such a love, and is a very sweet boy. He was very good at playing music for all of us on the keyboard and he gave very good kisses. It was wonderful to meet them all, and I hope we can keep in touch and see each other again! Colson just loves having friends over and showing off his toys.

That’s it for this month,

I hope you always receive spontaneous love from the people in your life,

Jennifer